Loving Unity was different. Her friend had always been there for her, and loving Coop was easy. The second she’d held him, she’d known she would do anything for him. She had friends and a good life, but she’d also avoided anything like romantic love. Unity was right—it wasn’t an experience problem, it was her problem.

“I can’t give my heart,” she said.

“Really? Because loving Keith would be so awful?”

“What if he—” She paused, not sure what the what-if would be. Keith had always been there for her. The man took care of her car and helped with Cooper and kissed her until she melted. Still, to risk everything seemed impossible.

“He’s right. I’ve never had an adult relationship. I don’t know what I’m doing. We should go back to being friends.”

Unity made a clucking sound. “Chick, chick, chicken.”

Ellen glared at her. “You think you’re in a position to be giving me advice?”

“Someone has to. You’ve pretty much been in love with him from the moment you met him. You hid it behind friendship, but it was there. That’s why everything was so easy on the trip. You’re good together. This is your chance, Ellen. He’s a hunky, sexy guy who’s in love with you. Not handing over your heart is about as dumb as spending three years of your life hiding from the chance of healing and finding happiness.”

“Why are we so scared?”

“Because we’ve both been hurt. It’s hard not to flinch.”

“I want to be brave,” Ellen said. “Maybe.”

Unity hugged her. “We could be brave together. Just join hands and take a leap of faith. Oh, I know. We’ll add being brave to our lists.”

Ellen laughed. “Great idea. You first.”

Keith gritted his teeth, then knocked on his daughter’s half-open bedroom door. Lissa looked up from the book she was reading.

“Hey, Dad.” She sat up on her bed. “What’s up?”

He set two books next to her, careful not to look at her or the titles. “I got these for you. I don’t want to talk about them. Just read them and if you have any questions, you’ll have to ask someone else. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”

She read the titles, then looked at him, her eyes huge. “Dad, these are books about sex.”

He retreated to the door and stared over her head. “If you’re going to do that with Luka, I want to make sure you’re doing it right. He should be, ah, taking care of you and he’s just a kid, without a lot of experience.” He dropped his gaze to her face. “Lissa, I love you more than anything, but I can’t explain that stuff to you. I don’t have it in me.”

Honestly, he would rather be shot. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t need the information.”

Now it was her turn to look away. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“It’s my job to worry about everything where you’re concerned.”